Daisuke Matsuzaka met with over 6,000 media members today at City of Palms Park where the Red Sox hold their spring training games. Ok, it was probably like 100-150 members of the media. This is the type of following that will probably follow him around during spring training and to every city the Red Sox visit plus at home in Boston.

So let’s take a look a few of the questions asked during the press conference today.

There is a large number of media here and around you. Talk about your relationship with the media and have you spoken with the rest of your team about the amount of media?

[Matsuzaka laughs] I don’t know if I will tell them about the media situation. I think the team will be the way – the right people to address that situation.

How has the transition to the United States been, with what you’ve eaten and everything like that?

I don’t have any dislikes. So far, so good from now on. I see no problems in the future.

You are unfamiliar with the hitters and they are unfamiliar with you, with that do you think they will keep you out of some games this spring against division teams like the Blue Jays or Yankees?

We don’t have data on each other – so – being the pitcher will be more advantageous in that situation. I won’t sit out at all.

Question in Japanese: As a Seibu Lion, you always had a theme in the spring. What is your theme this year in the US?

The most important – since it’s the first time – getting familiarized. If I can find a theme in doing that, it will become my theme.

We’ve heard so much about the gyroball. Do you throw it and will we see it this season.

[Matsuzaka pauses and grins] Hmm… how to answer this? I knew this was coming. I prepared some optional answers. Do I say I can, that I have it? Or do I ask what pitch you are referring to? Overall, if I have the chance, I will pitch that ball.

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Gyroball
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Well the one thing that sticks out to me is the gyroball question. He had ducked the question in the past about whether it was in his arsenal. So know we know that he, in fact, does throw it. It’s nice to hear he is making the transition to the United States and adapting to our culture. I am sure it would be the same for us if we were in Japan.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the Red Sox react to the amount of media that will surround them during the entire spring training and season. There are a few (Manny) who aren’t particularly happy having the media around. Think of it this way Manny. You will have some new fans in Japan.

Anyways thats all for now from the frozen confines of Connecticut. Here is a look at the rest of the entire transcript from the press conference.

Technorati: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boston Red Sox, gyroball

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UCONN Police have finally made arrests in the Carlee Wines hit-and-run case that took place on the UCONN campus on Jan 20th. UCONN Police have arrested Anthony Alvino, the driver of the car, and Michelle Hall, who was a passenger in the car. More arrests are forthcoming.

Here are pictures of Alvino and Hall.

Wines died two days later from injuries sustained in the crash.The arrests come a few weeks after UCONN Police had seized a Nissan Armada that had front end damage consistent with what they expected from a hit and run.

Alvino faces charges of misconduct with a motor vehicle resulting in death, evading responsibility, tampering with physical evidence, possession of alcohol by a minor, traveling unreasonably fast, and failure to grant right of way to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

Hall faces charges of aiding and abetting evading responsibility, conspiracy to commit evading responsibility, hindering prosecution, aiding and abetting identity theft, and inducing minors to procure liquor.

Kudos to the UCONN Police who have worked non-stop since this horrible tragedy occurred. My thoughts and prayers are with the Wines Family as they grieve from this horrific accident.

UPDATE: More information is coming out as this case unfolds. It seems as though Alvino’s parents wanted to cover up the whole incident. They were willing to do anything it took to make sure their son didn’t get into trouble. Also, after Alvino hit Wines, he freaked out and Hall told him to drive away. This explains the charges of aiding and abetting.

Carlee Wine’s parents had this to say:

“when your actions, in anyway, have inflicted harm on others, stop and render aid! Help one another! Do not run and hide from your obligations.”

Not only did they run away from the situation but now this is something they will have to live with for the rest of their lives. No matter what though, they should have done the right thing and stayed at the accident scene and reported the incident.[coolplayer width=”480″ height=”380″ autoplay=”0″ loop=”0″ charset=”GBK” download=”1″ mediatype=””]
NBC 30 News on Carlee Wines Investigation
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Technorati: Carlee Wines, University of Connecticut

In order to get some of their investment back ($103.1 million) from the signing of Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Red Sox announced a partnership with Funai Electric Co, Ltd. Funai will be the sponsor of the media tents where Dice-K will conduct his interviews at the spring training complex in Ft. Myers. Their signage will also be seen when Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima conduct interviews at Fenway and on the road this upcoming season. They will have a billboard at the spring training complex as well. No word on whether any other signage will be visible at Fenway this season or how much the deal is worth.

This deal is huge for the Red Sox. Not only will they be recouping some of the money they invested, they will receive some serious brand recognition of the Red Sox name in Japan. I expect the Red Sox to sign many more contracts with Japanese based companies.

A little background about Funai. They manufacture televisions, dvd recorders and players, cameras and other various electronic equipment. Their brands are Funai, Symphonic, Emerson and Sylvania.

Some additional Red Sox news:

The Red Sox Single-A affiliate, the Lowell Spinners, are cashing in on Dice-K mania. On August 1st, the first 1500 fans to enter their ballpark will receive Dice-K Fuzzy Dice. Having worked for the current regime in Lowell while I worked in New Haven, these guys are geniuses when it comes to marketing and promotions.

Matsuzaka worked out again and basically his routine was the same as the previous day. He stretched, played a little catch, and ran some sprints. He will be holding a press conference on Thursday afternoon at 5 PM. I’d expect to see more press there then were at President George W. Bush’s press conference at the White House on Wednesday.

Curt Schilling and Okajima are expected in camp on Thursday. All the pitchers and catchers are expected in town by Friday with physicals scheduled on Saturday and the team’s first official workout on Sunday. To me the biggest question is when will Manny arrive. And I know one thing for sure. Manny will be very happy that the media won’t be focused on him even though he has knack for wanting to be the center of attention. Personally, I just think he like’s to see his name in the papers.

All signs are pointing to Wily Mo Peña heading to arbitration with the Red Sox on Friday. Good luck WMP (I think).

Information from the Boston Herald was used in writing this post.

Technorati: Boston Red Sox, Funai, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Curt Schilling, Wily Mo Pena, Lowell Spinners

When asked by a New York Post reporter on Wednesday about the possibility of playing in Boston next season, Mariano Rivera had this to say:

“You never know. Everybody has the same shot. The Yankees will not have an advantage.”

Mariano is a free agent after this season and it seems that the Yankees don’t want to negotiate with him right now. The Yankees rarely ever work on contracts during spring training. They would rather wait til the end of the season to assess his performance this season and check his health.

To me, this is absolutely crazy. Of course, I’d love to see Mariano in a Sox uniform closing games next season. But when you have arguably the best closer in baseball who really wants to finish his career in New York, you get a deal done. I can’t imagine the Yankees opening their new ballpark in 2009 without Rivera in uniform.

Technorati: Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox

Jerome Dyson scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half to lead UCONN past the Pirates of Seton Hall 67-55 on a cold icy night at Storrs. Three other Huskies scored in double figures tonight. Jeff Adrien has 12 points, Craig Austrie had 11 and Doug Wiggins had 10. Seton Hall was led by Brian Laing with 17 points. Eugene Harvey added 10 for the Pirates.

The first half was very not a pretty sight as both teams struggled to make baskets. The teams combined to make 19 of 67 shots. As I said not very pretty at all. UCONN led by 2 at the half.

Seton Hall got out to a 5 point lead in the second half but a 15-2 run by the Huskies put UCONN up for good. Dyson scored 8 straight points to put UCONN up by 6 and they never looked back from there.

Notes and Observations:

• The starters were Austrie, Dyson, Johnson, Thabeet and Adrien.
• Besides having 12 points, Adrien was a monster on the boards pulling down 15 rebounds, 7 of them on the offensive end. The double-double was Adrien’s Big East leading 14th of the season.
• After starting recently, Stanley Robinson found himself in Coach Jim Calhoun’s doghouse and only played 2 minutes. He didn’t score.
• Dyson’s 22 points were a career high for him. His previous high of 20 came against Central Arkansas on opening night.
• A.J. Price’s struggles continued from the floor. He was 2 of 7 from the floor but hit a key 3 pointer in the 2nd half.
• Thabeet was blocking shots like they were flies. He ended up with 7 blocks. He was also a perfect 2 of 2 from the field and was 2 of 3 from the charity stripe. He added 9 rebounds as well.
• UCONN only shot 37.1% (23 of 61) from the floor. Seton Hall was no better shooting 28.8% (19 of 66).
• UCONN was 15 of 23 (65.2%) from the line. Still not good in my book but they really didn’t have to shot too many free throws down the stretch.
• The game was officially a sellout (10,167) but most of the ticket holders didn’t make it to the game. Seems we had a lil bit of N’oreaster up in these parts of the country today. My parents were crazy enough to make the trip.

Most of the game was not pretty. But it was really nice to see Dyson step up and perform like he should have been all season. I’ll take it though. It has been a tough long season for the young Huskies and hopefully this win was enough to put them into the Big East tournament. Even if they only get one game in the tournament, it will be very valuable experience for this young team.

With the win, the Huskies move to 16-9 (5-6 in the Big East). Next up for the Huskies is a nationally televised date in Syracuse against the Orangemen. Game time is 3:30 PM and is on ABC.

Technorati: UCONN Huskies, Jim Calhoun, Seton Hall Pirates, Big East Conference

Here is your daily Matsuzaka update at spring training in Ft. Myers. There is no news.

According to Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe, the following players were in camp today: Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester, Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen, Lenny DiNardo, Kason Gabbard, Devern Hansack, David Murphy, David Pauley, Chad Spann, Abe Alvarez, Craig Breslow, Dusty Brown, Travis Hughes, Kyle Jackson, George Kottaras, Edgar Martinez, Javier Lopez, and Mike Burns.

Beckett made a brief appearance before heading over to Daytona for the press conference announcing the deal between Fenway Sports Group and Roush Racing. The timing of this is oddly strange as one of Roush’s driver’s crew chief, Robbie Reiser, was suspended for four races. It is now believed the deal is worth around $60 million.

Here is a tidbit of information that comes to me from Metschick, a fellow Deadspin commenter.

Papelbon regaled reporters with tales of duck hunting last month with New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning in Manning’s hometown of Drew, Miss. “We slaughtered those ducks,” said Papelbon, who also boasted about his duck recipes, which he claims are far superior to one he found in a book that was attributed to Ted Williams (“I tried it and it was terrible, dude” he said.) “What I do,” Papelbon said, “you marinate it in Coke and Italian dressing, right. What the Coke does, the carbonation takes out all the game flavor. So you marinate it in Coke and Italian dressing in a Ziploc bag. Then what you do, you slice up a breast, quarter it in fours, and then you wrap those four little nuggets in bacon, jalapeno, and sour cream, so you wrap it all in a piece of bacon, throw it on a grill. It’s amazing.”

Like she said, Papelbon and Eli together? I have to agree, that’s odd combination.

Update at 5:38 PM: Lenny Dinardo was claimed off waivers by the Oakland Athletics. He was placed on waivers when the Red Sox finally officially added J.D. Drew to the 40 man roster.

Technorati: Boston Red Sox, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett, Jonathan Papelbon, Eli Manning